Tag Archives: employee rewards

Five Ways to Retain Your Best Employees

Posted on October 29, 2011 by | 1 Comment

gThankYou - I love My Job!As Marshall Goldsmith of Smith Communication Partners  states in his report “Retain Top Talent”,  “if you don’t modify your HR practices to match tomorrow’s reality you will lose your competitive edge.”  Goldsmith’s premise is that employers have to manage their human assets with the same rigor used to manage financial assets, and goes on to list ways to retain the best employees in today’s environment.  Here are several tips inspired by Marshall Goldsmith’s “Retain Top Talent”.

5 Retention Tips:

  1. Clearly identify the people you want to keep.
    In the article, “How to Identify Top Performers”, Bill Gilbert of WM Gilbert Associates says top performers must not only have the right skills and abilities to work in your organization, they must want to work there.  “Fit” is as important as having the skills needed to do the job well.
  1. Let them know you want to keep them.
    Because talented employees can often find other employment, Goldsmith reminds us that we need to remember to recognize, reward and let employees know they are valued.  MANAGEREVOLUTION  recommends “re-recruiting” your top performers so they stay with you after the economy recovers.
  1. Provide recognition.
    Goldsmith says, “High impact performers are leaving organizations for three reasons: lack of recognition, lack of involvement and poor management. Show your best employees you appreciate them.      gThankYou - Good Job!

    Not sure how to best recognize employees?  Here are “25 Ways to Reward Employees (With out Spending a Dime)” by HR World.  Looking for an affordable and way to recognize and thank Employees, how about gThankYou! Turkey Certificates in celebration of the Thanksgiving season.

  1. Provide opportunities for development and involvement.
    The Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program says, “By providing opportunities for employee growth and development, organizations can improve the quality of their employees’ work experience and realize the benefits of developing workers to their full potential.”  For more on this topic, you might enjoy our recent post, “Top 5 Reasons to Send Your employees Back to School“.
  1. Challenge the compensation plan.
    If you pay for performance rather than seniority, Goldsmith explains, top talent is more likely to stay.  Pay tied to performance is a particularly effective motivator for high-performing employees.BLR.com has tools for compensation planning and an interesting article, “2012 Compensation Budgets Focus on Top Performers,” for more information on coming trends in this area.


Your Bottom Line

Gilbert also offers these statistics:

  • Top performing unskilled employees are 19% more
    productive than average unskilled employees.
  • Top performing skilled workers are 32% more
    productive than average skilled workers.
  • Top performing managers and leaders are 48% more
    productive than average managers and leaders.

He asks, “What would it mean to your bottom line if you had more top performers?”  We’d like to know too.  How do you retain your best employees and what advantages do they bring to your organization?

About gThankYou, LLC

gThankYou! Turkey Gift Certificates are one of America’s favorite employee gifts and can be redeemed for any Brand whole Turkey, at virtually any Grocery Store in the U.S. 

gThankYou, LLC provides company leaders with a variety of easy, meaningful and affordable ways to recognize and reward employees, holiday time or anytime.  gThankYou! Certificates of Gratitude and free Enclosure Cards are personalizable including incorporating your company logo, and ship same day.

gThankYou, LLC (www.gthankyou.com) is based in Madison, Wisconsin.  Contact:  Rick Kiley, Chief ThankYou! Officer, gThankYou, LLC at info@gthankyou.com or 888-484-1658.  Follow the company blog “Celebrating Work” at blog.gthankyou.com.

“G” logo and “Certificates of Gratitude” are trademarks and “gThankYou” is a registered trademark of gThankYou, LLC.

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Posted in Empolyee Engagement, Management & Leadership, Rewards & Recognition

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Asian Parenting and Workplace Rewards

Posted on February 23, 2011 by | 1 Comment

If you followed all the recent fuss over how Asian parenting styles produce real results, you may think that it appears to contradict the idea that incentive programs can drive success.

In her now famous Wall Street Journal essay, “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” Yale Professor Chua describes (somewhat tongue in cheek, some argue) how kids in China –  and Korea and India among others – are driven to do so well in school and outperform kids in the U.S., for example.

For these parents, the reward is a good result, notes Chua:

“Once a child starts to excel at something—whether it’s math, piano, pitching or ballet—he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction. This builds confidence and makes the once not-fun activity fun. This in turn makes it easier for the parent to get the child to work even more.”

Blogging for ZDNet, Eileen Yu, who believes Chua’s sentiment was somewhat misunderstood, concludes that this kind of “tough love” method of pushing results would probably not work in every workplace:

“…the primary objective of any workplace [should be] to encourage and help employees realize the fullest of their potential, even if it may sometimes mean pushing them to their limits. “

How a manager accomplishes that for each employee is the tricky part. Success can breed success. Getting to the initial win could mean creating an environment that fosters success and rewards achievement. A simple thanks has been proven to get results according to reports including a survey by the staffing firm Accountemps, which found frequent recognition of accomplishments as the top way to reward employees.

Chua’s essay has sparked an important discussion about how to best facilitate  success, which includes fun take-offs like this from Edie Larson posted on Awl titled, “Why Minnesota Mothers Are Doing Pretty Good.” The parenting style can be summed up in this statement by Larson:

“If a Minnesota child gets a B, well, good for them! Room for improvement.”

In my mind, regardless of whether you’re a room-for-improvement style manager or succes- drives-success manager, rewards make a difference. Don’t forget to say thanks, no matter your style.

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Posted in Employee Gifts, Fun with Gratitude, Gratitude, Gratitude Research, Management & Leadership, Showing Gratitude to Employees, Thank You Power, Trends

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The Happiest Companies on Earth

Posted on January 13, 2011 by | Leave a comment

What goals or challenges (dare I say resolutions?) do you have at work this year? If boosting success by creating happiness for yourself, your team, division or company is among them, you should know something about the “Happiness Advantage.”

Forbes blogger Jenna Goudreau recently highlighted 10 firms profiled in positive psychology leader Shawn Achor’s new book, The Happiness Advantage, The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work.

In the book, and in the companies he works with, Achor advocates practices that help improve social connection and workplace environment, among other things, to boost happiness. His research, pioneered at Harvard University then put into practice at a popular class there (and now in break rooms and boardrooms across corporate landscape) shows results worth noting:

“…positive employees outperform negative employees in terms of sales, energy levels, turnover rates and health-care costs by as much as 30%.”

View the slideshow of all the companies here.  They include:

  1. Adobe: which offers employees engaging knitting and book clubs, plus positive psychology training.
  2. American Express: a champion of flexible schedules and gay benefits.
  3. Google: with free food, games and childcare on site.
  4. IBM: after an MIT stidy there showed more social employees perform better, the company began an introduction program.
  5. Southwest Airlines has a spirited culture described as “fun luving” with a “warrior spirit” that can be seen on its corporate blog, Nuts About Southwest.

Not all solutions need be elaborate or costly. Goudreau describes seven tips Achor says you can use to create a happy and sucessful environment work for yourself and your team.

What makes you happy at work?

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Posted in Trends, Workplace Gifts

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Business Gifting Best Practices Revealed!

Posted on December 7, 2010 by | Leave a comment

At gThankYou, we’re  in the fortunate position to learn and share information about how corporate gifts – to employees, customers or friends — impact business. Study after study as well as documented experiences shared by firms we serve reveals that corporate leaders practicing workplace gratitude gain a lot of what we like to call Thanks Equity. It can be measured in engaged employees, loyal customers and a healthier bottom line.

As another year comes to a close, it’s fitting to look back and share the best information we’ve found in the past year plus, a best practices of corporate gifting of sorts.

  1. How to engage employees? Just add dirt! 
  2. Gaining worker buy in by offering an office recess.
  3. Making Thanks easy by lowering the transaction cost.
  4. Timing is everything, except when it comes to workplace giving.
  5. What to give: It’s truly the thought that counts.
  6. Creating awareness with recognition.
  7. Health and happiness through giving.
  8. Recognition helps gain competitive advantage.
  9. Giving builds customer loyalty.
  10. Gifting is the best recruitment and retention tool.

More innovative corporate leaders are recognizing the value of Thanks Equity. You probably won’t find it on any P&L, but it does mean a lot to an organization’s health. Please share with us your stories of how workplace gifting helps your company.

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Posted in Employee Gifts, Management & Leadership, The Art of Thank You, Gratitude, Gratitude Research, Fun with Gratitude, Thank You Power, Thank You, Showing Gratitude to Employees, Workplace Gifts

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How to Gift in the Workplace: Part III

Posted on April 14, 2010 by | 2 Comments

It became a popular fun topic of conversation around the water cooler the same time every month. Who would receive the certificate and hearty handshake? As the ritual went, monthly all-staff meetings concluded with the top executive handing out his pick-of-the-month for the stand-out employee.

Although the certificate (suitable for framing) held no monetary value, it was treasured by the recipient and often displayed for years in cubes and offices. Accolades like this have been proven to be the greatest workplace gift of all. And I would argue that it’s not so much what or when (see Parts I and II of this series), but how the gift is presented that is really key to a successful workplace gift program that will return rewards to your company.

Saying Thank You to employees with meaningful rewards is good. Doing it in a way that recognizes specific achievements in a forum that creates awareness is great. Even if it’s a simple gift, putting thought behind the presentation has been proven to motivate.

It a recent Workplace Wrangler blog the Seattle Post Intelligencier drew attention to author Daniel Pink’s recent speech at the TED conference. The talk, detailing the science of motivation, notes that “when it comes to motivation, there is a huge gap between what science knows and what companies do.” Pink wrote the acclaimed Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. According to the PI:

Pink convincingly argues that once our basic need for financial stability is taken care of, the desire for intrinsic motivation kicks in. Intrinsic motivation is founded upon personal rewards (individual interest or love) rather than extrinsic motivation (money). In fact, many scientific studies have demonstrated that people actually become less motivated when money is tied to doing something we are already drawn to doing. It actually devalues it for us!

Pink advocates employers to adopt a “now-that” approach to rewards and gifts instead of the usual quid-pro-quo “if-then” rewards system to gain motivation.

A recent survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers and OfficeTeam reported in the Toronto-based Globe & Mail recently  noted that 33 percent of workers in North America believe their manager fails to recognize them.

The certificate and hearty handshake method worked because it was a gift that carried a lot of meaning behind it. The recipient was most often a surprise, and always well deserved.

What’s the best workplace gift you have received? What’s the best reward program you’ve been involved with at a company? Chime in.

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Posted in Employee Gifts, Showing Gratitude to Employees, Trends

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Best Workplace Gifts: When? (Part I)

Posted on March 24, 2010 by | 7 Comments

My Grandfather worked for a railroad company in Northern Minnesota for much of my young life. It was considered a very good job. The stories of Poppy’s railroad work remain a legendary part of our family’s oral history.

He retired after 25+ years on the job. Along the way, he was given traditional service awards. Treasured were his gold pocket watch, and bronzed locomotive plaque.

Times, of course, have changed. Gone are the service awards of my Poppy’s day. Often by choice, employees don’t stay with one company long enough to earn a reward based on years and years of service. The next generation of workers in a recent survey from I Love Rewards says they really don’t plan on sticking with one job that long:

“The average job seeker according to the survey wants to stay with their first employer for 8.9 years, but the reality is that students only stay an average of 1.5 years according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employers have a real opportunity to save money in the long term by investing in robust retention strategies in order to keep this group engaged,” says I Love Rewards CEO and founder Razor Suleman.

This survey indicates that employees today need rewards early and often:

“…they don’t care about years-of-service awards, which 91 per cent of companies offer.”

Companies have a real opportunity to create a new paradigm in their employee reward (and retention) programs. Here’s a blueprint to get you started:

  • Implement and keep a program that reflects your company’s values. In her Work with Me column,  Detroit Free Press workplace reporter Patricia Montemurri recently wrote on the decline of company recognition programs. Victims of tough economic times, these programs hold real value. Don’t cut, experts say.
  • Establish rewards that are given regular intervals. Earlier is better, according to Montemurri’s column:

“Instead of waiting decades to recognize employees,  it’s becoming more popular to acknowledge an employee’s one-year anniversary — perhaps with a token gift such as a titanium flashlight or a pen and pencil set. If you keep somebody and train them well, and recognize them during the first year, you’ve got a better chance of keeping them on the second year,” according to Anthony Luciano of TharpeRobbin

  • In addition to these regularly scheduled rewards, it’s a real motivational boost to recognize special effort of teams of employees or individuals with tokens that are meaningful.

Employers may not get much chance to hand out gold pocket watches any more, but there is ample opportunity and reason to recognize achievement and service in the workplace. Your company’s success may depend on it.

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Posted in Employee Gifts, Management & Leadership, Thank You, Trends

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Engage to Rebuild Your Workforce

Posted on January 28, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Economic uncertainty seems to remain in the air, but it’s also clear that the job picture must be improving, at least in the macro, from some recent things I’ve been reading on certain career-focused Web sites.

This recent post from Career Builder advises companies how to attract and win over ideal job candidates. The list includes lots of perks that range widely:

  • Offering a healthy work/life balance
  • Having flexible or alternative work schedules
  • Corporate volunteering groups and efforts
  • Cross-training opportunities
  • A “Green” facility
  • Tuition reimbursement
  • Health benefits for an employee and his/her family
  • Casual dress
  • Dogs in the office
  • Employee trips
  • Candy at the reception desk
  • Free yoga
  • In-house massage
  • Learning opportunities
  • Fun contests to promote recognition
  • 15 days off during the holiday season
  • Profit sharing

Missing from this list, arguably, is the key strategy of engaging current employees and offering them a tangible system that helps them set, achieve and celebrate goals. Employees under your roof now are your greatest asset, and best advertising tool to boost your ranks with top-performing people. Best to start the year right by setting a policy and agenda toward employee engagement for a sustainable organization.

As discussed in this recent post from Jo Confino, executive at the London-based Guardian, employee engagement is not really rocket science, but more a matter of communication. Says Jo:

“We are delighted that our most recent employee survey has shown that our staff engagement programme has led to a dramatic uplift in the scores on sustainability, compared with the same survey the previous year.”

According to Career Builder, the job forecast for the upcoming period is improving. It’s probably a good time  to shore up employee engagement to build a truly sustainable and productive workforce.

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Employee Rewards – Engagement vs. Bottom Line?

Posted on June 23, 2009 by | 3 Comments

WorldatWork is a leading human resources professional association with more than 30,000 members worldwide.  WaW sees itself as the “Total Rewards Association”, and draws the the premier companies and practitioners in this realm to its annual Total Rewards Conference, held recently in Seattle.

One of the really fascinating presentations in Seattle earlier this month in Seattle revealed the results of a new study on reward programs by Hay Group and WorldatWork.  The study: “Reward Next Practices: The future of reward programs” finds that in the next two to three years 57% of firms plan to increase focus on employee engagement in measuring reward programs. Also, 64 percent will increase focus on the “motivational value of reward programs” in the future.

Here’s what Tom McMullen, U.S. Reward Practice Leader for Hay Group says about these results: “The global downturn has prompted organizations worldwide to shift to an increased focus on how to engage and motivate employees. However, during times when budgets are tight, maintaining an engaged workforce is more difficult than ever. When times are tough, employers are looking for ways to improve engagement – and it’s essential they remember the motivational power of intangible rewards, the role of the line manager in establishing a great work climate and the importance of communicating effectively with employees.”

The study has stirred up commentary from HR bloggers, some of whom question how to go about measuring effective engagement and rewards. In Compensation Force, Ann Bares calls study findings “an interesting piece of news” calling for “some element of balance in our reward metrics – financial versus non-financial, lag versus lead.”

In his Strategic HCM Blog, John Ingham says it’s essential to be clear about intended outcomes first when measuring a reward program.

How are rewards currently measured? The study of 763 diverse companies in 66 countries found that reward program performance metrics weigh heavy on financial performance (71%) using employee engagement (40%) to a lesser extent. In the future, more companies report they plan to focus more on engagement.
Other key findings:

  • Almost half, 44 percent, plan to increase their future focus on using reward to reinforce a culture of creativity and innovation.
  • Two thirds, 67 percent, will focus more on improving the ability of line managers to effectively manage the overall pay-for-performance relationship with employees, and on the role of line managers in communicating total rewards to employees.
  • Key components of the reward programs of the future will include leveraging important non-financial rewards including career and development opportunities, improving work climate and non-financial recognition.
gThankYou® Certificates of Gratitude™, when given as employee gifts, are a way  savvy Human Resource Executives help their company’s say “Thank You” to colleagues.  gThankYou, LLC is based in Madison, Wisconsin.  The company is best known for its Ham Gift Certificates, Turkey Gift Certificates and Grocery Gift Cards.
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Posted in Gratitude Research, Management & Leadership, Trends

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